Victorian-Era Print Of The Goddess Eastre

This is a bit different for the Easter Holiday. Here is an image of Eastre - you will note the r and the e are in different places. Eastre (or Ostara as she was named in the 1800s) is The Goddess Of Spring and the namesake of the day that is celebrated with bunnies, eggs and more. The image itself is quite rare - no definitive information is available on it ... as a matter of fact, no information is available on it at all. I would define the picture as Victorian Scrap (perhaps from a calendar) since it assuredly dates from the 1880s or 1890s. It is also rare due to how The Goddess is depicted - particularly the moon in her crown. Extremely rare for someone to have drawn that in the Victorian Era. It would not be unreasonable to speculate that the image depicts The Goddess Diana since she is typically drawn wearing the moon crown.  Given the setting and the animals, this is certainly that of Eastre. The fragment is a delight to behold since she looks so much like the charming girls ubiquitously-seen on scrap pieces of that age combined with the traditional elements of Eastre's presence. 

Here are two shots of the scrap since it was difficult to get one good image ...

Some Artifacts Pertaining To Good Friday

Here are a picture and video clip of three items: a Crucifix, a statue of Mary, The Blessed Mother and a statue of a Disciple (I believe to be the Apostle John). All of them can be considered artifacts pertaining to Good Friday ... the Crucifix itself and Mary and John at the Crucifixion of Jesus.

The Cross is French in origin and dating to the late 1600s (although I have seen a photo of a Cross supposedly Finnish and from the early 1800s). The statues may be Austrian or Italian and date from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. A nice lot - definitely museum pieces!



Check out the skull and crossbones! Very common in religious art of that time. I have seen those (along with reapers) on tombstones in Germany and Austria (1500s to 1800s) and in the USA (1700s). Heavy patina.

A (blurry) video of the three:

The Roman Festival Of Veneralia Dedicated To The Goddess Venus 2010!!

Thursday, April 1, 2010 - the day of the Roman Festival of Veneralia dedicated to The Goddess Venus. I endeavored some ancient reenacting today and did as the Romans did. I tried to be as historically-accurate as possible. I erected a nice shrine and altar. Therein you will see a soaking-wet and dripping Venus Statue. On this day in antiquity, the Romans washed all of the Venus statues and adorned them with flowers. In that spirit, I made sure that the statue has been ritually cleaned and prepared with the proper offerings. She was originally associated with vegetation so I added plenty of vegetables in addition to fruit and some peanut snacks (German import purchased at Aldi). The Venus De Milo to the right is a clay statue that I made earlier this year. The image to the left is an albumen print photo dating to the late 1800s. It features the specific Capitoline Venus (based on the Aphrodite Of Cnidus or Aphrodite Of Menophantos). Happy Veneralia!!













The nineteenth-century photo of Venus mentioned above:


Some quick video footage of the set-up:

Goddess Eastre And The First Day Of Spring 2010

This video is about a statue that I purchased at a dollar store. As I was walking down an aisle, I spotted it and thought that it would look nice if it was painted into a statue of a Goddess. Which one I thought ... how about The Germanic Goddess Eastre! I grabbed some paint and brought it all home. I wanted to do the job on March 20 since that date is the First Day Of Spring and the beginning of The Ostara Season. It turned out alright - the hair is fabulous.  I need to touch-up the rest of it.

Here is a video of it:

Keywords: Ēastre Ēostre Eostre Easter Ēostur-Monath Eosturmonath Germany German Anglo-Saxon Austrō Au̯es- Au̯es Ostarâ Eástre Eástor áustr Göttin des Ostern

Grover Cleveland's Birthday!

Today, March 18, 2010, is the 173th anniversary of former President Stephen Grover Cleveland's birth, and what better way to celebrate it then to go right where it all began ... his birthplace in Caldwell, New Jersey. It is a wonderful place to visit as it contains a nice assortment of items pertaining to the life of Grover Cleveland and life in general from the time in which he lived. These photos were taken at the home where Cleveland was born on November 30, 2008. I just cropped and uploaded them now!

Photo taken with the flash (horrible):


Photo taken without the flash (turned out quite nicely - great color):


Here I am to the left on the photo:

You can visit his place of birth too. Here are a few websites that discuss and describe the home:
http://www.clevelandbirthplace.org
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/historic/grover_cleveland/gc_home.htm
http://caldwellnj.com/grover.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/presidents/grover_cleveland_birthplace.html
http://www.presidentialavenue.com/gc.cfm

James Madison's Birthday!

On this day in the year 1751, James Madison, Jr. was born. He is one of the great long-haired males of history and also one of the greats who was of a shorter stature - he is, in fact, the United States' shortest Commander In Chief standing at around five feet, four inches in height. Madison was the principal architect of the U.S. Constitution and, as leader of the nation, was one of two sitting Presidents (the other being George Washington) to lead the army on the actual field of battle (in the War Of 1812). Happy Birthday to James Madison on the 259th anniversary of his birth!

Here is a print of James Madison (believed to be from 1836):




Here is a land grant, signed by Madison as President, from November 20, 1816:


Close-up of the signature:


Here is a print of Madison's Montpelier Estate (believed to be from 1867):

A video of the above three items with a quick biography of James Madison:

Homemade Clay Statue Of The Venus De Milo

Continuing the clay statues from the previous post, here is the Venus De Milo aka Venus De Miko (made on 2-17-2010).  Here is a video showing the process.

Venus De Milo Goddess:

Many more clay statues to come!

Homemade Clay Statue Of The Minoan Snake Goddess

I have been having a fantastic time making clay statues the past few months, and I am just now showing them to the public. The first one to be presented is the Minoan Snake Goddess (made on 2-13-2010).  I have never had any training in the arts in my adult life and I did not make a project out of clay since elementary school ... that was nearly twenty-five years ago. I am very satisfied with the completed specimen. Here is a video showing the process.

Minoan Snake Goddess:

James Garfield (And Family) Signature Identification Video

I made this video so viewers and future autograph collectors can get acquainted with the signatures of James Abram Garfield, his wife Lucretia, his Mother Eliza and his son James Rudolph. I do not have enough examples so I do not consider this an actual Signature Study. You will note the letter - very interesting and apropos to see a letter with a request for one of James' autographs.

Remembering William Maxwell Evarts

I would like to introduce you to a lesser-known figure in American History, William Maxwell Evarts. He was heavily involved in the most important events of his day,  He is an obscure figure in the present. His history ...

1818-1901. Delegate at the 1860 RNC - nominated William Seward. Defense in the Andrew Johnson Impeachment Trial. Counsel for Rutherford Hayes versus Samuel Tilden in the 1876 election controversy. Secured funds for the Statue Of Liberty.

Family - his grandfather was Declaration Of Independence signer, Roger Sherman. His great-grandson was Archibald Cox who was the prosecutor during Richard Nixon's Watergate Scandal so he and his great-grandson were involved with two Presidents' court proceedings.

Some photos of a portrait print and an autographed card ...

Perhaps I will get around to framing the two of them together some day:


A video for you ...